Isaac Kimmel does missionary work teaching at Belize school

Isaac Kimmel, an alumnus of St. John Paul II High School in Corpus Christi, spent the last year serving as a teacher at John Paul II Junior College in Benque Viejo del Carmen, Belize. The junior college is the only liberal arts college in Belize, “so it fills a really important role,” Kimmel said.

“Belize is a young democracy, so it's critical that its citizens know history and philosophy, and those subjects aren't taught in grade schools at all,” Kimmel said.

Kimmel was volunteering with the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (SOLT).

SOLT has had a Catholic high school in Benque for some time, and wanted to provide its graduates a genuinely Catholic college option as well so they could keep growing in faith.

Because the junior college is new and different, it has not established a reputation yet and Belizeans do not understand its mission, Kimmel said. Enrollment is low and funds are scarce, so support from the United States is crucial.

“I served down there with two other guys from the Diocese of Corpus Christi, Steven Bernal and Ruben Peralez. They didn't teach at the college, but I lived in community with them and 21 other volunteers,” Kimmel said. Bernal is a parishioner at Our Lady of Perpetual Help and Peralez of St Anthony's in Robstown.

Kimmel is 2012 graduate of John Paul II and a 2016 graduate of the Catholic University of America where he obtained a BA in philosophy. He taught philosophy and logic in Belize. This upcoming August, he will start studying at the University of Notre Dame with a plan to receive an MA and PhD in sociology within five years.